Fibes



UNITED STATES PATENT *oEEIcE., i

'RALPH BULKLEYy OF NEW YRIC, N..

Specicationlof Letters Batent No. 10,658, datedilVIarch I21,' '1854.

declare that the followingis afullA and exact' description thereof, reference being had/to the accompanying drawings and tothe letters of reference-.marked thereon.

The nature of myinvention consists 1n providing'a ship or a: building with an aperture, which aperture is to be used, when the shi-p or building is internally on fire, for 1nserting a composition of matter that vwill burn under circumstances and produce a predominant smoke vso vapid in its nature as to extract the oxygen from common air, vapor, or steam and render-every `aeriform therein inert, and quickly thereby extinguish flame embers andcoals of fire 1n any part, apartment, Vor :apartments thereof.

To enableothersskilled in the art lto make and use my invention, I will proceedto describe its construction andfoperation.

My mode of extinguishing tire is appli-r cable to any of the known forms of lships or of buildings'.

I make an aperture in thefdeck or in any convenient part of the ship or in any convenient part of a building, and 1n order to prevent a gush of smoke or flame during the insertion of the composition, I provide tubular iixtures, as shown at Figures l, 2'

and 3 in the accompanying drawing. n

Z in Fig. 1 is a section of the upper deck of a ship.

A a ais a perspective view of the tubular fixture. A, 7c, is a sectional elevation of the same; c o, its fianch and fastening to the deck; c a, its movable cover. g g is the composition in its prepared state for burning; la, the match to be lighted.

h, z., are waddings above and below, so that when forced down by the rammer Z to gage m m, the upper wad lt will remain in the lower end of the tube and prevent the smoke and flame from entering the tube.

t' is an aperture in the deck.

l s, t, is' an aperture and screw plug prepared for lowering an ignitible match into the ships hold to determine, by the ignition or by the nonignition of it, the extinguish-A ment or the continuance of the iire.

l w is a section of a wire net for suspending the composition while burning.

Mode of Extinguishing Firesv f Fig. 2 ;y is an lexterior llinefof a building; b is a tubular permanent fixture; is a hinge cover; Zw?) isa .section of an aperture with sockets; z' z' its hinge cover; o o -its :hasp and socket. This socket is for the entranceof portable ytube ic 7c la le, in the hands of firemen or others, shown in sectional l-ines at FigB.v d (lis a section of a screw, and 0 .o isa flanch,-either of which are provided for securing the portable tube in socket l) ,5. lc `lc are extension rods', in which, the composition can remain burning `until forced out by `a succeeding integral. Z Z is la flare for vthe easy .entrance of the integral. Thisburnable matter for producing predominant smoke I in general compose of a .-mixture-ofdry fossil anddry vegetable substances, each and all of which, .whether `vin crude Vor lin fabricated form, tare in their nature burnable and 4reach and all of which substantiallyiretain their original virtue, and consequently their primitively provided fburnable ',qualitieay :and which composition is a mixture of nitrate of .potash, sulfur, ,and fibrous vegetable. substance, :in such proportions as will insure its burning in freeairor in closeplaces that arev internally ypressed with smoke-r and lia-Ine, yand will, :of course, vary ,withthe rapidity of its action required to meet emergencies when openings permit a comparatively considerable escape of smoke and flame; but, whether slow or quick in action, the transmutation thereof is gradual and free from all danger of explosion, and the vapidness of the predominant smoke `is quickl in its effect in extracting the yoxygen from the common air, steam or vapor and thereby instantly extinguishing fire'in any recess of an inclosure.

The -deinite quantity of the composiltion herein described that will be required for the extinguishment of fire in ships and buildings will necessarily depend, in a measure, on the tightness of the place in which it is applied. It is however computed that, saving waste, about two to three cubic feet of it is sufficient .to extinguish a dangerous lire in a ship of a thousand tons.

This improvement as described is believed to dier in the elementary principles yof the materials of which it is composed and in the production and application of a predominant smoke for extinguishing common ire in ships and buildings from all other modes or improvements known or fire.

used, and as to its, believed to be, Vunequal safety, the effective action' of predominant smoke on elementary const-ituent principles of air in extinguishing fire consists in the smoke being a negative to each of the constituent principles of the air, While the action of gas, vapor or steam is ai'usive to the constituents of the air, and it is believed that by the use of this negative safety` is added to effectiveness in the extinguishment of fire, for when gas or When steam or vapor is applied direct upon a fire or when steam is produced from Water thrown in contact With fire it in either case is adding the aeriform oxygen of Water tothe oxygen of common air, thereby rendering `air ka nonsupporter of combustion by affusing a con# stituent quality of' it; viz., the oxygen, and by this decomposition of Water an addi tional explosive, elementary principle becomes disengaged, viz., its vhydrogen gas. This gas, Within an inclosure, in a rarefied state, is liable to combine With the affused `oxygen gas, and thus combined is liable itself to become ignited and fdangerous,fbe'

'ing highly explosive, Whereas the predominant smoke herein described, being a vapid aeriform, in itself Wholly divested of oxygen or spirit and possessing so predominant an aiiinity for oxygen, it instantly extracts and appropriates to itself vthe oxygen vof the space which is not already consumed. by the A discriminate usefulness Vof this c0m position is believed tol consist in its being a dry compound, for While iuids of any description are liable to congeal in "cold elimates or deteriorate in Warm climates the compound herein described, being dry and diurable, is not liable to change by any changes of climate. It is portable, and it is effective in comparatively small quantities. It is applied Withoutany risk to the operator, and two or even one person `is sui'licient to applyv it on a comparatively large scale, and is of such a nature that it can be continuously applied till the intended object is accomplished.

In packing the compound herein described for use at a future indefnitetime the interstices of the integrals may be filled With dry dustysubstance to protectthe same from the ordinary dampness ofthe atmosphere.

y I am aware that a patent hasbeen obtained for a composition of sulfur and `niter for producing sulfurous acid gas for extinguishing flame; but VI contend thatlthe composition of vegetable and mineral matter described herein for producing `a vapid smoke comprises f aV patentable difference from all other improvements therefor.

What I claim as my invention and desire lto secureby Letters Patent, is-

The application to ships andfbuildings of a composition offossil and vegetablesubstances Which will transmute by the `action of fire in-close places and `produce a predominant smoke "that will extinguish commen lire, as herein described, using for that purpose the, aforesaid compound, `or any other substantially the same, and which will produce the intended effect. 1 i Y RALPH BULKLEY. Witnesses:v y

D. M. D.- CAMERON, SAML. WAITE. 

